Mention brand ambassadors and your mind will immediately and automatically conjure up visions of celebrities, famous actors and trendy influencers.
Dutch wax company Vlisco has been doing things differently instead: for the last few years, it has indeed celebrated inspiring African women from a variety of backgrounds and countries.
Some examples? Since 2013 Vlisco picked women with very different roles in society as the faces of the brand, from educators and school founders to charity workers, autism awareness campaigners, founders of non-profit organisations, broadcasters, magazine publishers and, last but not least, upcoming fashion designers.
Some of them have been actively involved in their communities or internationally: Euphrasie Kouassi Yao, UNESCO Chairholder and Coordinator of the Compendium of Women’s Competences in Côte d’Ivoire, realized a project that involves female rural leaders in the management of improved village hydraulic pumps; Patience Barandenge launched a micro-credit programme for women in Congo, while Paediatrics Professor Laurence Ya Adonis-Koffiis has been involved in the battle against renal failure in children for seven years and is the founding director of the first specialised unit in the French-speaking sub-Saharan part of Africa since 2009.
Wouldn't it be about time that also famous brands talking about female empowerment started opting for more credible and less superficial ambassadors? Food for thought, not just for International Women's Day, but for all year round.
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